NMC record of deaths rules out unidentified Covid-19 fatalities

Anjaya Anparthi | TNN | Apr 16, 2020, 04:34 IST

Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) analysis of the number of deaths registered in March and in the first 11 days of April, in comparison with the corresponding period last year, ruled out possibility of unidentified Covid-19 deaths in the city. In fact, the number of deaths has reduced this year.
Following media reports of spurt in deaths from a particular community in a city of a neighbouring state, the civic body had ordered the analysis.
NMC data says 1,825 persons died in March last year, of which 1,638 were cremated and 187 buried in cemeteries. In March this year, 1,415 deaths were registered of which 1,286 were at crematoriums and 129 at cemeteries.
Similarly, NMC registered 1,583 deaths in April last year, 1,402 at crematoriums and 181 at cemeteries. In 11 days of April this year, there were 459 registered deaths of which 407 were at crematoriums and 52 at cemeteries.
The city started to witness positive cases of Covid-19 from March 11. As of now, total positive cases are 56 in the district, of which 55 are within NMC limits. The district has registered one death, from Satranjipura. The reports of the deceased had come positive a day after his death.
The number of positives reach 56 due to two cases. Satranjipura case also recorded 27 positives while 11 persons were afflicted in the Khamla case.
The city stands at third place after Mumbai and Pune in the state as far as area and population are concerned. As on Tuesday, Mumbai had registered 1,756 positive cases including 112 deaths, while Pune’s positive cases are 310 including 34 deaths. A few more cities are ahead of Nagpur in positive and death cases.
Municipal commissioner Tukaram Mundhe told TOI, “We came up with a lot of ideas during the think tank session in Covid-19 War Room. Analysis of deaths was one of the ideas. We have done day-to-day and area-wise analysis. There are no abnormal deaths in the city. Also, there are no abnormal deaths in any particular area,” he said.
Though the civic body receives information of all deaths for death certificates, the teams of NMC went to 16 crematoriums and 10 cemeteries to compile the data.
Mundhe said, “The major reasons behind fewer Covid-19 positive and death cases in the city are the various steps taken by us. We have immediately done containment drives in areas where positive case came to fore. We traced all family members, close contacts, tested and quarantined them. Also, we launched door-to-door survey of high-risk persons across the city. There are many more such initiatives which helped contain Covid-19,” he said.
Mundhe added, “We have started to reach out to all tuberculosis (TB) patients over the last two days. Satranjipura death was a TB patient. Such patients are high-risk for Covid-19. We have a number of TB patients in the city. Our teams have started to visit them, inquire about their health condition, guide them to take medicines regularly, and encourage them to stay at home.”